The Greek rioters-Where do you suppose that they imagine where wealth comes from?

As someone who works 60 hour weeks regularly… I have little sympathy. I have money because I work my ass off for it. There needs to be some more of that there.

but not too much, there is no sense in working like a dog your whole life

Austerity is a big reason they can’t pay back the debts. See this article.

The ATM.

For some people, it does. There is a certain point where you can’t spend enough and the only thing you can do with your money is make more money. You can’t really spend it fast enough to appreciably help the overall economy, only your own personal finances.

Of course, a healthy economy is one where money is circulating, and that requires a large number of people actually having enough money to spend to increase demand for goods and services rather than a small number of people hoarding money; currency was made to be spent.

Since the working class is the biggest percentage of the population, in practice that means having workers earn enough wages to go out and spend. Economies are largely consumer-driven. If you try selling something nobody can afford, odds are you won’t generate enough revenue to stay in business very long. And who makes those things and provides those services? The working class.

Cutting costs may look good on paper, but when that leads to a decrease in consumer spending that lowers demand enough to lead to a rise in unemployment, it can be self-defeating at best and possibly do far more harm than good and isn’t sustainable.

But to answer the question more directly, many feel that the wealth comes from them, whether through their taxes or through their labor. The money comes come the people. And let’s be honest, the government isn’t always acting 100% in accordance with what the people want or need.